Here are the results of the straw poll conducted during the January 10th Maricopa County Republican Committee Statutory meeting. The poll gauged precinct committeemen support for the 2016 Presidential candidates and support for the Republican nominee to the US Senate (currently held by John McCain). Twenty-five poll sheets were provided to each of the 20 legislative districts to distribute to the first precinct committeemen to register. The poll was separate from the balloting for officers and resolutions.

The Iranian regime remains the United States’ greatest national security threat despite the recent efforts at diplomatic outreach. Iran continues to be the world leader in state-sponsored terrorism and provides significant support to terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hizbollah, and President Assad’s regime in Syria. It is a regime that has the blood of American soldiers on its hands.

A nuclear-armed Iran would further elevate the status of the regime that already finances terrorism around the world. It would allow Iran to continue its illicit activities with less constraints and its global influence would increase dramatically. A nuclear-armed Iran poses an existential threat to Israel since Tehran has continually threatened to eliminate our democratic ally.

The Obama administration inked an interim agreement with Iran over the status of the regime’s nuclear program last November, but concerns remain over the terms of the agreement. Under the interim agreement, Tehran is continuing to enrich uranium – the key step in the development of a nuclear weapon – and retains its current nuclear material and infrastructure. The agreement is also worth between $6 and $7 billion in sanctions relief to the regime in Tehran, which could be used for illicit purposes or to perpetrate terrorism.

That’s why a bi-partisan majority of the U.S. senate is supporting the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act, sponsored by Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL). The bill, which currently has 59 cosponsors in the Senate, legislates new sanctions on Iran should it violate the current interim agreement or fail to reach a final agreement on the status of its nuclear program. The bill provides U.S. negotiators with the needed leverage to achieve a diplomatic solution.

In order to achieve a final agreement with Iran, U.S. negotiators must be given as much leverage as possible. Should Iran violate the terms of the current agreement, or fail to reach a final agreement with Western negotiators, new and increased sanctions should be levied on the Iranians. This provides negotiators with an important diplomatic tool to convince the Iranians to negotiate in good faith. And should the regime not follow through on its commitments, increased sanctions provide the U.S. with an insurance policy to prevent Iran from rapidly developing a nuclear weapon.

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) immediately cosponsored this important piece of legislation and should be commended for his commitment to stopping Iran’s nuclear program. I strongly encourage Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) to also join the majority of his colleagues in the Senate and cosponsor this bill.

The U.S. must use all tools available to prevent Iran’s nuclear program from accelerating and to ultimately prevent a military response. All Americans agree that a diplomatic solution is far preferable to a military one. But in order to achieve a strong diplomatic agreement and prevent military action, we must provide our negotiators with the necessary leverage.

Arizona State Rep. Paul Boyer, a Republican, represents District 20, which covers parts of Phoenix and Glendale.

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) today introduced the Television Consumer Freedom Act of 2013, which provides consumers the ability to buy cable channels individually, also known as “a la carte,” giving Americans more control over their viewing options and, as a result, their monthly cable bill.

Text of Senator McCain’s statement on the floor of the U.S. Senate introducing the legislation:

“Mr. President, today I am introducing the Television Consumer Freedom Act of 2013. This legislation has three principal objectives: (1) encourage the wholesale and retail ‘unbundling’ of programming by distributors and programmers; (2) establish consequences if broadcasters choose to ‘downgrade’ their over-the-air service; and (3) eliminate the sports blackout rule for events held in publicly-financed stadiums.

“For over 15 years I have supported giving consumers the ability to buy cable channels individually, also known as ‘a la carte’ – to provide consumers more control over viewing options in their home and, as a result, their monthly cable bill.

Washington, D.C. – United States Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ), today offered two amendments during the Senate Committee on the Judiciary markup of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. The amendments were adopted en bloc.

Flake #1: Adds three private land owner representatives (one from the Northern border region and two from the Southern border region) to the Department of Homeland Security Border Oversight Task Force included in the bill.

Flake #2: Revises the schedule for the Department of Homeland Security’s submittal of the semiannual status report regarding the implementation of the Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy to 180 days after submission and every 180 days thereafter. Additionally, it adds the Comptroller of the United States as a recipient of the status report, and adds a requirement for an annual review by the Comptroller of the reports and an assessment of the status and progress of the strategy.

More revelations how money moves in the political campaign world. Here’s an article by David Levinthal on PublicIntegrity.org about our senior senator that also reveals his plans for 2016.

More than four years after the fact, John McCain the senator is benefiting big time from John McCain the presidential candidate.

That’s because the McCain-Palin Compliance Fund Inc. of a presidential election more than four years distant transferred $819,200 this winter to the Arizona Republican’s U.S. Senate campaign committee, according to a document filed today with the Federal Election Commission.

Cash transfers between established political committees are in general, legal, and McCain for several years after the 2008 election routinely shuttled funds among the several political committees under his watch. They include his 2008 presidential committee, a Senate committee, joint fundraising committees and a leadership political action committee.

But the McCain-Palin Compliance Fund was supposed to raise private dollars to pay for legal and accounting costs associated with McCain complying with presidential campaign finance rules.

It now will ostensibly fuel a Senate re-election bid, which would next come in 2016 for the 76-year-old senator.

Outcome of Senate election in Arizona proof that grassroots campaigns are critical to winning elections.

MESA, AZ – Congressman Jeff Flake will become Arizona’s 11th U.S. Senator after defeating former US Surgeon General Richard Carmona. After months of polling that showed Flake trailing in the race to fill outgoing Senator Kyl’s seat, momentum began to swing toward Flake in the closing weeks. As early ballots were returned Richard Carmona held an early 1.5% (2500 votes) lead on Jeff Flake. The overall results changed on Election Day when Flake closed the gap beating, Carmona at the polls by 10,000 votes. This shift, due in part of a larger than normal election day turnout, accounted for a net 9% gain on Election Day for Flake. Hundreds of thousands of provisional ballots statewide have yet to be counted which should only add to this lead.

Despite what many political pundits predicted, Romney did not carry Flake’s victory. Nearly 100,000 votes for Romney did not go to Flake. While Romney’s Election Day percentages dropped from early return ratios, Flake’s increased by double digits.

“Given the news that Jeff Flake has been elected our Senator, it’s impossible not to recognize the efforts of our organization and our volunteers,” said Freedomworks Field Director Stephen Viramontes. “After opening our office in Mesa right as early balloting began in October, we were able to produce and deploy the largest grassroots army this State has ever seen.”

As can be seen from the raw numbers, grassroots wins elections! In just a short 5 weeks, the accomplishments for Flake were tremendous along with support from various organizations.

389,000 phone calls to voters

193,070 doors knocked with placed literature

11,026 signs placed

102 completed precinct walks

2,309 volunteer hours

FreedomWorks is the nation’s largest Conservative grassroots political organization. Its focus and purpose is to help Conservatives get elected all across the country. This was the first cycle in which FreedomWorks had a grassroots presence in Arizona. With results such as these and a solid coalition built, it is likely to continue to focus efforts on future races in Arizona.

“As part of our final get-out-the vote effort, the Flake for Senate campaign put in motion a telephone call operation designed to contact 120,000 Arizona Republicans to ask them for their support and to direct them to their proper precinct. In the course of this massive operation, there were apparently a few errors ineither the person’s party preference or correct number.

“Five individuals have complained, resulting in the overheated rhetoric and a complaint, neither of which is surprising in light of the Sunday survey by the Democratic-leaning polling firm PPP showing Jeff Flake leading his opponent by five points.

“The KPNX story that prompted this was incomplete, and really made no sense since the calls were made to 120,000 registered Republicans and encouraged them to vote. The station elevated breathless insinuation over the real explanation for a handful of mistakes caused by some adult children registered under their parents’ address, voters who had moved but not updated their registration or incorrect phone numbers in the database. The station failed to note that Flake for Senate worked with and consulted county election officials in compiling the information for our supporters about their correct polling location.

“Of the dozen calls from voters with questions about the information provided, the Flake campaign was able to reconcile nearly all of them. In each case where we were informed of a mistake, we have attempted to work with that voter to give them the correct information on where they can vote. Again, this autodial was targeted to registered Republicans; it encouraged them to vote and provided them the address of their polling place. The few Democrats who may have inadvertently received the call got it because of errant information in the database owing to circumstances like those detailed above.”

Attached is a document detailing each case cited by the Arizona Democratic Party along with a response from the Flake campaign that sheds light on why the voter may have been contacted erroneously.

PHOENIX – Jeff Flake made the following statement in response to a story reported late Sunday night by Phoenix TV station KPNX 12:

“Given the news that Democratic-leaning polling firm PPP released a survey Sunday that had the Democratic candidate down by five points, we expected the Carmona campaign to start grasping at straws. That began late Sunday night when KPNX aired a story on voter information calls sent out by my campaign.

“On Saturday we sent a targeted autodial call to over 120,000 Republicans, encouraging them to vote and informing them of their polling location. The call clearly stated that it was from my campaign because it was intended for Republicans. We received fewer than a dozen calls from voters with questions about the information provided, nearly all of which we were able to reconcile. Some adult children were registered under their parents’ address. In other cases, voters had moved but not updated their registration.

“Had KPNX provided us with detailed information on their report prior to airing it, we could have informed them that the Democrat they interviewed received thecall because, according the voting records, she had the same phone number as a Republican who lives in the precinct we provided information for. Again, this autodial was targeted to Republicans. Any Democrats who received the call (which in all likelihood was a small number) did so because of errant information in the database owing to circumstanceslike those detailed above.”

PHOENIX – In a new ad released today, Jeff Flake talks about his record of proven reform and fiscal responsibility and asks Arizonans for their support in Tuesday’s election for United States Senate. The ad begins airing today statewide on broadcast and cable television.

Click the image below or this link to view the ad:

Transcript

JEFF FLAKE: “All candidates say they’ll reform Washington. I did. They say they’ll stop wasteful spending. I have. So you know when I say I’ll fight the liberal, big government agenda in Washington, I will. Some want the title of Senator. I want to be your senator, to work for you. There’s a lot riding on this election. I’m Jeff Flake and I approve this message. And I’d sure appreciate your vote.”

For more information on Jeff Flake and why he’s running for the U.S. Senate, please visit his website at www.JeffFlake.com.

As Surgeon General, Rich Carmona Handed Taxpayers The Tab For Weekend Travel To His Home In California

‘Traveled To Vacation Home Frequently, Had Driver Pick-Up Dry Cleaning And Run Errands’

“…Carmona was taking advantage of official travel…” (“Testimony: Carmona Took Advantage of Perks of Office When Surgeon General,” The Weekly Standard, 11/1/12)

“…Carmona took full advantage of the perks of his job as a federal employee…” (“Testimony: Carmona Took Advantage of Perks of Office When Surgeon General,” The Weekly Standard, 11/1/12)

“Traveled to vacation home frequently, had driver pick-up dry cleaning and run errands…” (“Testimony: Carmona Took Advantage of Perks of Office When Surgeon General,” The Weekly Standard, 11/1/12)

TESTIMONY: “I was extremely concerned about the number of visits…Dr. Carmona has a summer home in Coronado Del Mar, near San Diego… conveniently, a lot of these travels would be over weekends.” (Dr. Cristina Beato, Testimony, US House Committee On Oversight, 11/2/07)

TESTIMONY: “I got word that the driver was going around picking up his [Carmona’s] dry cleaning, okay? I about fell out of my chair. And on my watch, I wasn’t going to have anything like that happen.” (Dr. Cristina Beato, Testimony, US House Committee On Oversight, 11/2/07)

“‘So these were concerns both of cost and of appearance?’ the questioner in the testimony asks Beato. Carmona’s former boss responds,‘Well, yes, absolutely. First of all, as to the budget, it’s taxpayers’ dollars.’” (“Testimony: Carmona Took Advantage of Perks of Office When Surgeon General,” The Weekly Standard, 11/1/12)

Carmona’s Congressional Motive: ‘Perks… A House And A Car’

“If a past interaction Kyl had with Carmona reveals a motive for the present, it is that the Democrat is seeking the Senate seat for the ‘perks of the office.’” (The Weekly Standard, 10/26/12)

SEN. JON KYL: “He seemed more concerned about the perks of the office…” (The Weekly Standard, 10/26/12)

SEN. JON KYL: “…he specifically asked about a house and a car…” (The Weekly Standard, 10/26/12)

SEN. JON KYL: “…he also seemed to think that it was just a lot of work for just two years… he thought, well, a position in the Senate would be a lot better to hold.” (The Weekly Standard, 10/26/12)

Carmona Spent 6 Years ‘Working’ At Luxurious Resort & Spa

Carmona: “This was a wonderful opportunity for me.”(“Carmona To Teach, Work In Town After Job As U.S. Surgeon General,” The Arizona Daily Star, 10/2/06)

Carmona: ‘Perfect Fit’ “Carmona, who has been a long-time patron of Canyon Ranch and sometimes gave lectures there, described the job as a ‘perfect fit.’” (“Carmona To Teach, Work In Town After Job As U.S. Surgeon General,” The Arizona Daily Star, 10/2/06)

About Sonoran Alliance

Arizona's most popular and prominent political blog covering political news and events, commentary and information with a blatantly conservative worldview. We are an alliance of writers, activists, consultants and government insiders.